Masque Beyond Kashmir : Day 1 of the New Menu at Masque

Lamb offals / “pepperfry” / miso custard 

The hallmark of the very greatest restaurants is that they never slip into tired complacency, dishing out their greatest hits like a lounge singer in a faded suit in an empty bar. They question. They innovate. They reinvent. They surprise you with their imagination and evolution and brilliance.

Barbecue pork / black sesame / moringa 

Masque is right up there with the world’s greatest restaurants. I did a big piece a year ago on what Chef Prateek Sadhu was doing, reinterpreting and reimagining the Kashmiri food of his youth to create dishes unlike anything the world has ever seen. When people ask me what food is served in Masque, I would usually just say Kashmiri inspired food. 

Gooseberry / Aam papad/ cherry tomato 

Well no longer. The muse doesn’t sit still when it comes to genius and the new menu at Masque is completely different from the Kashmiri inspired menus we’ve had the last two years. It draws on our experience as a nation over the last year, the sense of dislocation and anxiety, the inability to connect with other human beings to create a menu that provides succour and comfort. A menu that draws on communities across India, that is personal and representative not just of Prateek but the entire team at Masque. 

Barramundi / foxtail millers / also served with crispy prawn and 5 relishes with different flavour profiles 

This is food that celebrates India. The comforting flavours, the myriad techniques, the richness of produce and product. But it does so in a way that is breathtakingly inventive and creative. There is a menaskai sorbet where you get the tartness of a real menaskai, the coolness of the pineapple sorbet and the freshness of actual fennel pieces, and that leaves you awestruck when you realise you’re eating something that (for all the familiarity of the elements) has never existed before. A dish that was born purely in Prateek’s mind, a physical expression of the stories he and his team shared about themselves and their roots and families and the food they missed and loved, transformed into a thing of magic and surprise and wonder and perfection. 

Pineapple / menaskai

I remember being in Delhi in 2019 when a major food award’s rankings claimed that Masque wasn’t one of India’s ten best restaurants. If the idea was laughable then, it’s even more laughable now, a reflection on the kind of people that vote and claim to be experts on food rather than the restaurant. I said then that Masque would soon be on Asia’s 50 Best and The World’s 100 Best. It did win the “One To Watch” award for Asia last year but this meal reaffirms my belief that global fame and greater recognition are imminent.

Lobster Malai / bhang / Mangalore Bun 

The answer to what food Masque serves is simple. It serves whatever strikes the imagination and genius of Prateek Sadhu, one of the world’s great chefs.

Kalari kulcha / peanut thecha 

It’s no point trying to describe the dishes. Nothing can describe them or do them justice. I can’t explain why a Mysore Bun comes in poori form. Or how moringa and potatoes go with black sesame. Or how lamb testicles make it to a plate of offal and miso to create a textural, nuanced marvel of refinement. I’m just going to post photos. And name the dishes the way the restaurant has. But all I can say is book now. And go. There is no food like this anywhere in the world. 

Milk / banana honey / kaju khatai 

We also ate: 

- Banana chaat / crispy quinoa

- pickled strawberry / fennel / marshmallow

- sesame ice cream 

- caramel ice cream 

- passion fruit jalebi / Malai cream roll / chocolate barfi